Porzingis not surprised by sizzling start as Knicks main man
November 1, 2017

NEW YORK (AP) Kristaps Porzingis is neither surprised nor satisfied by his sensational start to the NBA season.

He entered play Wednesday third in the league in scoring with 29.3 points per game after the best beginning stretch ever for a New York Knicks player. He already was the first player in franchise history to score 30 in four of his first five games, then went for a career-best 38 in a victory over Denver on Monday.

The Knicks made him the face of the franchise when they traded Carmelo Anthony, and he looks up for the challenge.

''I'm never surprised by my own game,'' Porzingis said. ''I know what I can do on the basketball court. I always expect the most out of myself.''

He steadied the Knicks after a 0-3 start by leading them to three straight victories heading into their game Wednesday against Houston. The extra attention that defenses can pay him now that Anthony is gone hasn't helped them stop the 7-foot-3 forward.

He spent the summer training in Latvia, leading his home country to a quarterfinal finish in the European championships. It appeared that he would return to New York as the No. 2 option, then he became the main man when the Knicks dealt Anthony to Oklahoma City on the eve of training camp.

Now Porzingis is scoring in a way even beyond what Anthony did.

''I put in so much work and for me it's not a surprise that I'm able to play at this level right now,'' Porzingis said.

Porzingis knew he would need strength to get through the long NBA season after losing weight during it in his first two seasons. Searching for a way to keep the weight on, he began at the end of last season eating Zing Bars between meals, trying to meet his goal of eating around 5,000 calories a day.

It's worked so far - Porzingis said he's around 243 pounds, about 20 up from his rookie season. And he became such a fan of the product that he decided to invest in the company and will be on its board of directors.

''I told them if I'm in, I want to be involved 100 percent and I want to know also the business part of it, not just put my face on the bar and that's it,'' Porzingis said.

Those kinds of opportunities will be more available to him now as the marquee player in the biggest market. He wanted to take advantage of them when he arrived as a rookie but quickly realized it took up too much of his time so he cut back, preferring to focus solely on just a few partnerships.

He said that hasn't changed.

''The rest of the stuff will come and it's already coming,'' Porzingis said. ''There's a lot of stuff that we say no to just because we want to keep basketball as the main priority, and I need my rest days and I need time off and I can't be doing stuff every day off. So we really are just doing the stuff that I really want to be involved with.''

Porzingis seems well on his way to a first All-Star berth - though fans at Madison Square Garden were thinking beyond that when they showered him with ''MVP! MVP!'' chants on Monday, a night after he led the Knicks to a surprising victory in Cleveland.

He may not continue scoring at this level, but he thinks he can keep playing that way.

''I believe so,'' he said. ''That's the goal. That's the goal for me to be consistent throughout the season and I'm doing everything to prepare myself for every game, every practice.''

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

NEW ORLEANS -- Jimmy Butler pump-faked E'Twaun Moore off his feet and canned a 20-foot jumper and free throw with 34.2 seconds left to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 104-98 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night at the Smoothie King Center.

Butler also made a foul shot with 19.7 seconds remaining to finish with a team-high 23 points. The Timberwolves (5-3) also got 18 points from Andrew Wiggins and placed four others in double figures.

The Pelicans (3-5) lost their second consecutive home game despite 35 points and nine rebounds by DeMarcus Cousins and 24 points by Anthony Davis.

Magic 101, Grizzlies 99

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Evan Fournier had 22 points and eight rebounds as the Orlando hung on to defeat Memphis.

Aaron Gordon (19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals) knocked down a wide-open corner 3-pointer with 51 seconds left to give the Magic a 100-99 lead before they survived a few late mistakes.

Golden State won its last five games with San Antonio (4-1 vs spread); over is 7-2 in last nine series games. Warriors covered four of their last five visits to the Alamo. Golden State won four of its last five games; their last three games went over. Warriors are 2-6 vs spread this season, 2-2 as a road favorite. Spurs lost their last three games; they’re 2-0 at home, winning by 8-4 points. Under is 4-3 in their games.

Portland won its last ten games with the Lakers (9-1 vs spread, under 7-3); Lakers lost their last five visits to Oregon (1-4 vs spread), losing by 7-9-18-12-16 points. LA is 3-4 to start season, 1-1 on road, losing by 15 at Utah, winning in Phoenix (1-1 as road underdog). Last four Laker games stayed under. Portland split its first four home games (under 3-1); they’re 1-3 vs spread as a home favorite.

GOLDEN STATE @ SAN ANTONIO
Golden State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Antonio
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Golden State's last 5 games when playing San Antonio
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Antonio's last 5 games when playing Golden State
The total has gone OVER in 7 of San Antonio's last 8 games at home

LA LAKERS @ PORTLAND
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of LA Lakers's last 12 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of LA Lakers's last 5 games on the road
Portland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against LA Lakers
Portland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing LA Lakers

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

GOLDEN STATE (5 - 3) at SAN ANTONIO (4 - 3) - 11/2/2017, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SAN ANTONIO is 1007-882 ATS (+36.8 Units) in all games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 512-430 ATS (+39.0 Units) in home games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 46-26 ATS (+17.4 Units) in the first half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 339-265 ATS (+47.5 Units) after a non-conference game since 1996.
GOLDEN STATE is 18-7 ATS (+10.3 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
GOLDEN STATE is 7-4 against the spread versus SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
GOLDEN STATE is 8-3 straight up against SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

LA LAKERS (3 - 4) at PORTLAND (4 - 4) - 11/2/2017, 10:35 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
PORTLAND is 6-1 against the spread versus LA LAKERS over the last 3 seasons
PORTLAND is 7-0 straight up against LA LAKERS over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

We’ve had some nice back-and-forth action at the NBA betting counter this week with favorites and underdogs exchanging blows. Since Monday, the ‘chalk’ owns a 14-11 straight up mark but the record against the spread are all square at 12-12-1.

The one trend that stands out this week is the ‘over’ with the high side going 18-7 (72%) and those results could’ve been expected since the ‘under’ was on a 35-17 (67%) run the previous seven days.

Thursday’s card only has two games and both will be nationally televised.

Golden State (5-3 SU, 2-6 ATS) at San Antonio (4-3 SU, 3-4 ATS)

The defending champions head to the Lone Star State on Thursday and the oddsmakers opened the Warriors as 6 ˝-point road favorites over the Spurs.

For those of you who forgot, these teams met in the Western Conference Finals last season and Golden State captured a 4-0 sweep but many pundits believe the series was decided in Game 1 when San Antonio All-Star Kawhi Leonard left the game in the third quarter due to an ankle injury.

San Antonio was well in control of that contest, leading by as many 25 points but fell apart without Leonard and dropped a painful 113-11 decision to Golden State. The next three games without their best player, the Spurs lost by 35, 12 and 14 points.

Fast forward to this season and Leonard (quad) still hasn’t played a game since the opener of that series due to another leg injury. Despite not having him, San Antonio started the season with four straight wins but have followed up the winning streak with three consecutive losses. The offense has fallen into a serious funk and the Spurs are averaging 91.7 points per game during this span.

It’s tough enough in the NBA when you can’t score, even more difficult when you’re facing the top-ranked scoring offense in the Warriors (121 PPG). San Antonio has only played two home games and it won both of them against a pair of quality clubs in Minnesota and Toronto.

Plus, Golden State hasn’t looked as dominant on the hardwood this season and it’s burned bettors who have continuously laid the points with them. They’ve only managed to cover two of their first eight games, which includes Monday’s 141-113 blowout win over the Clippers and that’s a team the Warriors have absolutely owned.

One reason for their decline at the betting counter could be attributed to their defense. The Warriors (114.1 PPG) have taken a step back in that department from last season (104.5 PPG) and that effort has helped the ‘over’ go 6-2 this season.

The total on this game opened 219 at but dropped as low as 216 ˝ as of this morning. San Antonio has watched the ‘under’ go 4-3 on the season and its scoring defense (98.9 PPG) is ranked fifth in the league.

The two regular season games at the AT&T Center last year went well ‘under’ the number as the Warriors were held to just 85 and 92 points. Yet in the aforementioned playoff sweep, Golden State dropped 120 and 129 points in Game’s 3 and 4 versus San Antonio.

The Spurs did recall point guard Tony Parker from the G-League on Wednesday but he’s expected to be ‘out’ for this matchup.

Even if San Antonio falls to .500 and drops its fourth straight game Thursday, the team plays its next five at home and they’ve got a couple layups (Suns, Bulls) coming to town along with some nice tests (Hornets, Clippers, Bucks) as well.

Golden State is off to Denver on Saturday and I believe that will be the more difficult of these two road games since the Nuggets have the athletes to run with them and the Pepsi Center is never an easy out.

TNT will provide national coverage of this game at 8:05 p.m. ET.

L.A. Lakers (3-4 SU, 3-4 ATS) at Portland (4-4 SU, 3-4-1 ATS)

Oddsmakers opened the Trail Blazers as 8 ˝-point home favorites for this contest and bettors pushed that number down to 7 ˝ as of this morning.

Portland has been known to be a bully at home against inferior teams but it hasn’t shown as much pop offensively this season and that’s translated into a 2-2 SU and 1-3 ATS mark at the Moda Center. They did get nipped at the buzzer to the Clippers (104-103) last week but Monday’s recent loss to Toronto (99-85) was embarrassing as they were held to just six points in the second quarter.

The Blazers tried to get on track last night but they dropped a 112-103 overtime decision at Utah. Unfortunately, the team also lost starting power forward Al-Farouq Aminu to a sprained ankle in the setback and he’s likely to be ‘out’ for this game.

Portland has only faced one back-to-back situation this season and they lost a 113-110 decision at Milwaukee on Oct. 21 in a game it could’ve easily won. Last season, the Blazers went 3-1 both SU and ATS when playing on no rest at home.

That should give head coach Terry Stotts and company confidence tonight, plus this has been an extremely one-sided series recently with Portland winning 12 straight against Los Angeles and what’s more impressive is that it owns a 10-2 ATS mark during this run.

This Laker squad definitely has a lot of new faces and perhaps they’ll be able to snap the streak but you better hope the outside shot is falling. It was on Monday as Los Angeles defeated Detroit 113-99 as a three-point home underdog and they connected on 12-of-26 (46%) from 3-point land.

What’s surprised me about the Lakers is that they actually won two games this season while holding teams under 100 points. I thought the only way they could win is if they put up a crooked number, something they did at Phoenix (132-130) on Oct. 20.

Los Angeles hasn’t won back-to-back games yet this season and this will be just their third road contest so far with the team splitting the first pair.

The Lakers have seen the ‘under’ go 5-2 and that includes a run of four straight to the low side. Portland is 5-3 to the ‘under’ and even though the season is young, this year’s team has shown some life on defense (98.3 PPG) compared to the numbers from last season (109 PPG). The ‘under’ went 3-1 in the four meetings between the pair last season.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

Celtics' Hayward working way back from gruesome leg injury
November 2, 2017

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) Gordon Hayward is working his way back from a horrific leg injury.

The Boston Celtics forward has no timetable for his return. He's just happy to be in the gym less than three weeks after breaking his left leg in the season opener. For now, he's limited to ''chair-shooting,'' but he says holding a basketball again is an ''incredible feeling.''

Hayward signed a four-year, $128 million free-agent contract in the summer to leave Utah and rejoin his college coach, Brad Stevens, in Boston. But Hayward was hurt in the first six minutes of the opener. The Celtics lost their first two games but have won six in a row since.

Hayward says he's going to help the coaches while he is rehabbing.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Klay Thompson scored 27 points, Kevin Durant had 24 and the Golden State Warriors overcame a lethargic first half to beat the injury-riddled San Antonio Spurs 112-92 on Thursday night.

Steph Curry added 21 points for Golden State in its first meeting against the Spurs since sweeping the Western Conference finals en route to the NBA title.

The Spurs played without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, as they did in the conference finals. Unlike those blowout victories, Golden State struggled to close out San Antonio.

Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 10 rebounds, continuing his resurgent season. Kyle Anderson added 16 points in place of Leonard, whose return from an injured right quadriceps is still undetermined.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

13) Terrible news for the Houston Texans: Deshaun Watson tore his ACL Thursday, and is done for the season- the injury sounds similar to what happened to Teddy Bridgewater last summer in Minnesota, a non-contact injury.

Tom Savage starts for Houston Sunday; Texans will sign QB Matt McGloin as a backup— he played for Bill O’Brien at Penn State.

12) Patrick Ewing is the new basketball coach at Georgetown; his son Patrick Jr was an assistant for the Hoyas last year, but because of the school’s nepotism laws, Ewing Jr cannot keep his assistant’s job with his father as head coach, which seems like a rule that lacks common sense.

If Ewing Jr was an assistant under John Thompson III, why can’t he keep that job under the next coach, no matter who it is?

11) Colts put Andrew Luck on IR; he is done for the year. Over the last three seasons, Luck will have played in only 22 of 48 Indy games— his career record is 43-27, plus 3-3 in playoff games.

10) Lance McCullers is the first pitcher EVER to hit four batters in a game, but not allow a run in that game.

9) Good news for Philly 76ers’ fans: Joel Embiid played 30 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday, first time he has played that many minutes in an NBA game.

8) Phoenix Suns lost their first three games, then they fired their coach and told one of their best players to stay home until they could trade him, which hasn’t happened yet.

Suns are 3-1 since then, with wins over Portland/Utah. Go figure.

7) Of all the major league players with 3,000+ career hits, Cal Ripken Jr (.276) has the lowest career batting average.

6) Former UCLA/Washington/Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel is apparently interested in the vacant Oregon State job. Neuheisel is 87-59 as a head coach, 55-44 in conference games- these days he works on CBS Sports Network.

5) Why did the Buffalo Bills trade for Kelvin Benjamin? Their WR’s have 45 receptions this season, their RB’s 47- they’re only NFL team whose RB’s have caught more balls than the WR’s.

4) Mets signed Ruben Amaro Jr as their new first base coach; he was GM of the Phillies from 2008-15, then was first base coach for the Red Sox the last two seasons. Has to be a tremendous change, going from running a franchise to being the first base coach.

3) NBA is holding its 2018 draft lottery May 15 in Chicago; the draft combine is then May 16-20, also in Chicago.

2) Texans were -14 over the Indianapolis Colts before Watson’s injury; now Houston is -7.

1) Not only a dismal day for the Colts, but what about all the fantasy league owners across America; teams that added Deshaun Watson had to he happier than hell, but now this, prize rookie Watson out for the season, after getting hurt in practice.

Lot of fantasy league money goes down the drain with both Luck/Watson now out for the season, plus the Aaron Rodgers teams are also probably sunk.

Also a really bad day for the NFL, which needs new stars, and Watson is most definitely a star.

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....

CLEVELAND (3 - 5) at WASHINGTON (4 - 3) - 11/3/2017, 7:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 4-3 against the spread versus CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
CLEVELAND is 4-3 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

CHICAGO (1 - 5) at ORLANDO (6 - 2) - 11/3/2017, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 260-315 ATS (-86.5 Units) in the first half of the season since 1996.
CHICAGO is 8-21 ATS (-15.1 Units) on Friday nights over the last 3 seasons.
ORLANDO is 38-51 ATS (-18.1 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
ORLANDO is 4-3 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 4-3 straight up against ORLANDO over the last 3 seasons
7 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

MILWAUKEE (4 - 4) at DETROIT (5 - 3) - 11/3/2017, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DETROIT is 13-3 ATS (+9.7 Units) in home games off a upset loss as a favorite over the last 3 seasons.
MILWAUKEE is 41-23 ATS (+15.7 Units) in road games after scoring 115 points or more since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 4-4 against the spread versus MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 4-4 straight up against MILWAUKEE over the last 3 seasons
4 of 8 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

INDIANA (5 - 3) at PHILADELPHIA (4 - 4) - 11/3/2017, 7:05 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 5-2 against the spread versus PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA is 6-1 straight up against PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
5 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 4-0 against the spread versus HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 4-0 straight up against HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
3 of 4 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

PHOENIX (4 - 4) at NEW YORK (3 - 4) - 11/3/2017, 7:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PHOENIX is 5-16 ATS (-12.6 Units) in road games after scoring 115 points or more over the last 3 seasons.
PHOENIX is 31-47 ATS (-20.7 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.
PHOENIX is 155-113 ATS (+30.7 Units) after allowing 115 points or more since 1996.
NEW YORK is 7-20 ATS (-15.0 Units) in a home game where the total is greater than or equal to 220 since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
NEW YORK is 2-2 against the spread versus PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
NEW YORK is 2-2 straight up against PHOENIX over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

CHARLOTTE (5 - 3) at SAN ANTONIO (4 - 4) - 11/3/2017, 8:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHARLOTTE is 48-76 ATS (-35.6 Units) against Southwest division opponents since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 1007-883 ATS (+35.7 Units) in all games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 807-688 ATS (+50.2 Units) as a favorite since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 512-431 ATS (+37.9 Units) in home games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 46-27 ATS (+16.3 Units) in the first half of the season over the last 3 seasons.
SAN ANTONIO is 87-52 ATS (+29.8 Units) against Southeast division opponents since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 334-277 ATS (+29.3 Units) in non-conference games since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
SAN ANTONIO is 2-2 against the spread versus CHARLOTTE over the last 3 seasons
SAN ANTONIO is 3-1 straight up against CHARLOTTE over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

Head-to-Head Series History
DALLAS is 5-3 against the spread versus NEW ORLEANS over the last 3 seasons
DALLAS is 4-4 straight up against NEW ORLEANS over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

TORONTO (4 - 3) at UTAH (5 - 3) - 11/3/2017, 9:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
UTAH is 84-58 ATS (+20.2 Units) in home games in November games since 1996.
TORONTO is 25-13 ATS (+10.7 Units) in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
TORONTO is 21-7 ATS (+13.3 Units) versus good defensive teams - allowing <=98 points/game over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
TORONTO is 3-0 against the spread versus UTAH over the last 3 seasons
TORONTO is 3-1 straight up against UTAH over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

MIAMI (3 - 4) at DENVER (4 - 4) - 11/3/2017, 9:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MIAMI is 118-156 ATS (-53.6 Units) in November games since 1996.
DENVER is 40-24 ATS (+13.6 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 3 seasons.
DENVER is 19-9 ATS (+9.1 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 106+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
DENVER is 2-2 against the spread versus MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
MIAMI is 3-1 straight up against DENVER over the last 3 seasons
3 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

BOSTON (6 - 2) at OKLAHOMA CITY (4 - 3) - 11/3/2017, 9:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BOSTON is 13-27 ATS (-16.7 Units) after 3 or more consecutive wins over the last 3 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 35-23 ATS (+9.7 Units) as a favorite over the last 2 seasons.
OKLAHOMA CITY is 166-127 ATS (+26.3 Units) versus good defensive teams - allowing <=98 points/game since 1996.
BOSTON is 33-18 ATS (+13.2 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 17-5 ATS (+11.5 Units) in road games in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 254-207 ATS (+26.3 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
OKLAHOMA CITY is 2-1 against the spread versus BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
OKLAHOMA CITY is 3-1 straight up against BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

BROOKLYN (3 - 5) at LA LAKERS (3 - 5) - 11/3/2017, 10:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BROOKLYN is 20-38 ATS (-21.8 Units) after 3 or more consecutive losses over the last 3 seasons.
BROOKLYN is 33-17 ATS (+14.3 Units) against Pacific division opponents since 1996.
LA LAKERS are 155-200 ATS (-65.0 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
LA LAKERS is 2-1 against the spread versus BROOKLYN over the last 3 seasons
LA LAKERS is 3-1 straight up against BROOKLYN over the last 3 seasons
3 of 4 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

Remember the 3 G's Gambling, Golf, Girls not in any particular order.....